A dutch oven is a thick-walled (usually cast iron, aluminum, ceramic and/or clay) cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. A camping, cowboy, or chuck wagon dutch oven typically has three legs, a wire bail handle, and a slightly concave, rimmed lid so that coals from the cooking fire can be placed on top as well as below. This provides more uniform internal heat and lets the inside act as an oven. These ovens are typically made of bare cast iron, although some are aluminum. Dutch ovens are well suited for long, slow cooking, such as in making roasts, stews, and casseroles. Virtually any recipe that can be cooked in a conventional oven can be cooked in a dutch oven.
While a dutch oven is well suited for baking food items, a dutch oven does not provide a means or method for grilling or frying food items. Unfortunately this limitation often necessitates packing additional stoves or grills to grill or fry food.
For example, if one wishes to grill an item, the user may be required to bring a charcoal grill. Charcoal grills typically include a bowl or other container for holding charcoal. A grill element is placed over the bowl and food items are placed on the grill to receive heat from the charcoal. The charcoal is burnt and consumed as the cooking continues. To continue cooking, fresh charcoal must be added into the bowl. Such refilling can only be done after lifting the grill from the bowl. Obviously, this is an inconvenient method for refilling the bowl.
If a user wishes to fry food items, a third stove and associated frying surface must be carried. Carrying a separate dutch oven, grill and stove can be very difficult in certain camping situations. The present subject matter solves these and other limitations of dutch ovens, grills and stoves.